Thursday, April 1, 2010

Class Day 1: Quick Breads - Muffins and Scones

Maybe I will survive this after all! Granted I have to drive one and a half hours to get to class... it's nice to just have a day just to do what I REALLY want to do. (Traffic sucks, but it's LA - what can you do?)

And while I think it's not right to run rampant and share the recipes from class, I still want to share my baking successes and fails - and of course, what I learn from actually being in class with real instruction.

Blueberry Streusel Muffins
In the past I have had dense muffins - and apparently I overwork the batter. OOPS. So, while it's easy to mix wet and dry ingredients - its harder to know when to STOP mixing (at least for me). Stop folding the batter just when the dry is all incorporated. I mixed my batter pretty smooth and it seemed to have just SLIGHTLY sunk a bit in baking.

Currant and Orange Zest Scones
I KNOW I overworked the dough on this one. I could feel the butter just start to soften as I worked with it. But to be fair, I've made scones before with better success and the room was getting warmer as the ovens started going, etc etc. I liked the color that just a bit of orange zest added too.

A new place I found to start spending TONS OF MONEY each week is within walking distance of class.. WHAT LUCK! Surfas Restaurant Supply and Gourmet Food
Needless today, my first step in there I freaked out (similar to my candy warehouse adventure). Think Sur La Table+Williams Sonoma+Restaurant Depot... PLUS a cafe!
I'll document the next time I go... which would be next week, without a doubt!

2 comments:

Anna said...

Yay! I'm so glad your first day went well!! Can't wait to hear more about it this weekend.

Reeni said...

Those blueberry muffins look scrumptious! I'm glad it went well for you!